What Future for Inga 3-Affected Communities?

A few days ago during his visit to Kinshasa, Mahktar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa region, confirmed the bank’s support for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s plan to build the Inga 3 hydroelectric dam. In March 2014, the World Bank gave a boost to the project proposed on the Congo River, by committing $73 million to finance environmental and social impact studies for the project. We’re skeptical the Bank can learn from its mistakes and thoroughly ensure that the project abides by the highest standard of environmental and social safeguards. In the past, the DRC’s government’s dam building – in particular Inga 1 and 2 – resulted in displacement issues that are still unresolved to this day – 42 years since dam construction was completed.

Colonial occupation of the DRC by Belgium displaced many local communities from their land. With various regimes coming and going, in 1973 the state nationalized all land and failed to recognize preexisting laws regarding land ownership. Traditionally each plot of land belonged to an individual or a group of individuals and communities have held on to this customary tenure system. These disputes over land tenure issues were supposed to be resolved and settled by way of a promised presidential ordinance, which has yet to materialize to this day.

The people displaced by Inga 1 and 2 believe that they were not compensated – in part because the government annexed their land which is now controlled by the Societe Nationale d’Electricite (the state utility which oversees Inga, otherwise known as SNEL). Inga 1 and 2 affected six clans. The displaced clans are now claiming ownership to the land that is now within SNEL’s concession. The extent of this concession is not well known. SNEL considers the area up to Mvuzi 3 (an area approximately 100 km from the Inga 3 dam site) as part of its concession. The Bundi valley that will be flooded by the Inga 3 components is also officially considered SNEL land. However, local community members dispute that claim. Mr. Lukombo Makwala, with whom we met during International Rivers’ most recent visit to Bas-Congo and Mvuzi 3, stated that what is now known as SNEL property is actually the community’s land.

All over the world local communities are losing their land to large infrastructure developments such as the proposed Inga 3 hydropower scheme, which would be one of Africa’s largest dams. Its two components would displace about 35,000 people (10,000 for Inga 3 “Basse Chute” and 25,000 for Inga 3 “Haute Chute”).

Mvuzi 3

Photo by Ange Asanzi

A local defense committee of people likely to be affected have come together to form CODICLI (Convergence for the Rights and Interests of Local Communities Affected by the Inga Dams). Until it becomes legally registered, CODICLI is being represented by another local NGO working closely with communities, ADEV (Actions pour les Droits, l'Environnement et la Vie), which has done a particularly great job in assisting and bringing awareness to these communities.

As expected, many local residents were unhappy to receive the news of their possible resettlement. Many are afraid of what their future holds, and are already experiencing negative impacts due to the impending move. During our visit in July, many had refrained from planting crops that will take more than a few months to harvest. They fear that they will not be in their homes when it is time for harvesting. ADEV has reassured them that the resettlement is not expected soon and that as a community they must work together to fight for their rights.

This trip visit was an eye opener for me, especially because I am a native Congolese. Visiting with local communities was much more than putting faces to a story­ – it was about becoming familiar with the place and people that are key to our work in the DRC. I found it very interesting that many living in Mvuzi 3 were not the legal owners but tenants, renting out land from the owners. Although the land does not technically belong to them, the crops and houses are theirs. These tenants and owners have their own social contracts and they all respect the customary laws. While local communities pay each other for land, dam builders do not.

Two members of the community from the Makhuku Futila (MF) clan – Thubi Balenda and Vangu Pilla, the head of clan – narrated their story to us. “The MF clan lived in Matselele village before the DRC was colonized by the Belgians. Their ancestors moved from the area due to heavy infestations of “maranguin” mosquitos in the region, which cause blindness. They moved around the Inga area freely, while not trespassing on lands belonging to other clans. In the 1970s when the construction of Inga 1 and 2 began, some members of the MF clan moved into Camp Kinshasa (built inside SNEL’s concession) to take up jobs on the dam. Gradually, other inhabitants pushed out by the Inga 1 and 2 dams moved into the confined Camp Kinshasa; a few moved to other areas but many remain in Camp Kinshasa to this day. They all lost their land yet they have never received compensation from the government. A few leaders in this community continue to try to press the government for their rightful compensation. We were told that government officials have, over the years, tried to buy them off with as little as a bag of rice or other small gifts.

Members of displaced clans

Photo by Ange Asanzi

Camp resident Mr. Pilla, age 70, got very emotional while talking with us about the matter: “Now they want to move us from Camp Kinshasa, I don’t agree we are the rightful owners of this place. Unless they drag me dead out of here I am not leaving Inga.” He added that they are requesting a percentage of revenue generated from the Inga dams as compensation.

The MF clan has lost all possession of their land and Camp Kinshasa is now what they call home. “What will happen to the remaining population of Camp Kinshasa [former project workers and their families] and those who are not entitled to any land, where will they go?” People do not want to live far away from their ancestors’ land.

These communities are requesting that the state creates an enclave for them within SNEL’s concession. In the Mukongo culture, each person has the right to a piece of land. They are prepared to approach the president, Mr. Joseph Kabila, to talk about this issue.

The latest information on the Inga 3 project indicates that the start date for construction will be pushed back due to various obstacles, and thus it is unlikely to start before the end of 2016. There is ample time for the government to consult with these communities to discuss the appropriate way forward. There is no doubt that the MF clan and the five remaining clans have been passed over for many years and must be compensated. SNEL must acknowledge that many more people will be displaced by Inga 3, and that they, along with those living in Camp Kinshasa, deserve better treatment – in fact, they should be made beneficiaries of the dam developments on the Congo. International Rivers will continue to work toward this goal, and to ensure that history does not repeat itself.